Rogue One: Vader
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Darth Vader's thoughts as he reflects on the mess made by the Death Stars' existence, and the rage he exhibited on the Rebel Alliance flagship. Spoilers for "Rogue One."
1. Chapter 1 Foreword

**Foreword. **

I've decided to change the format of my stories by adding a foreword to the start so then everyone knows I don't own the franchise that the story is derived from. I've just become tired of adding the same tired and boring rhetoric that I've begun to change it for good.

I've always wondered about writing a full multi-chapter story for Star Wars, and I decided to go with Rogue One.

This and the sister story I've uploaded deals with the personal point of view of central characters - this one will deal solely with Darth Vader, one of the most complex and iconic characters, ever. There will be one chapter I've taken liberties with, just to let you know, but the rest is in the movie. I truly hope you enjoy what I've got in mind.

I love this movie - well, I love the original trilogy and the sequel trilogy, with their charm, the action scenes, and the fact the effects look realistic; while I enjoy certain aspects of the prequel, I have my issues with it, though I felt with a bit of good writing they could have been more exceptional. But that's my own opinion.

I am going to say first and foremost, and _**THIS APPLIES TO ALL THE CHAPTERS I PUT UP**_ that I do not own Star Wars, and please let me know what you think.

Also, feel free to have a look at my other Star Wars stories if you like what you read.

I will leave some author's notes at the bottoms of the chapters, so be warned.


	2. Chapter 2 Meeting with Krennic

Rogue One: Vader.

Darth Vader was meditating as he was immersed within the tank of hot bacta; the injuries he had sustained on this very planet a twenty years ago at the hands of his Jedi Master and former friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the time he spent in the suit often required him to make visits to special facilities arranged for him to immerse his injuries and soothe them in bacta.

The dark side of the Force was quite strong with Mustafar, thanks to the location of his fortress on the planet, and while a particularly dark time had happened for the Sith Lord in the past, Vader had learnt how to draw strength from it since the anger and loathing he felt towards his one time friend Obi-Wan Kenobi when the pair of them had been friends had only served to drive him deeper and deeper into darkness although the feelings he had towards his wife, Padme, had never disappeared.

The feelings of anger he felt towards himself for murdering his wife and their unborn children and the rage he felt towards Kenobi for making his own wife betray him, and the rage and pain caused to him when Kenobi maimed him and left him to burn in flames on the rank of a river of lava had made Mustafar the perfect place for him to meditate for long periods. Here on this angry, volcanic world, Darth Vader was able to delve deep into the darker reaches of the Force.

With the strength of the dark side, Vader was able to delve down into the deeper recesses of the Force and he was able to learn so much about the galaxy he had never really been able to learn as a Jedi. Fear, rage, and pain… all of them were merged together to form a door for him to immerse himself in.

Vader had purposefully commissioned the building of the Fortress when he had discovered the connection to the dark side here, and doing so he was able to twist his rage and pain into a door for himself to access the Force in ways a Jedi Master like Yoda or Mace Windu was simply incapable of reaching. It was required for a Sith Lord to do this, and it was one of the reasons why the Sith had managed to survive. By immersing themselves into the deeper recesses of the dark side of the Force, they were able to amass a vast amount of knowledge.

Vader was just amazed and awed by how much he had learnt about the Force since the fateful day he had made his decision to save Padme by helping to save Palpatine's life while sacrificing and betraying Master Windu. He was using it now to centre himself on what was happening outside the Mustafar system and focus on the current crisis involving the Death Star.

In his bacta tank, Vader's face allowed a slight grimace spread over his face underneath the breathing mask he was wearing just thinking about the Death Star.

The Death Star.

The Ultimate Power in the universe, he had heard several involved with the project claim. He disputed that; to him, the ultimate power would always be the Force.

The planet-killer.

The problem creator, he personally referred to it as.

Vader had never really liked the thought of the Death Star, though as a Sith the thought of millions of people dying, and the tremendous wound which would definitely be the result at the use of such a terrifying weapon while millions more across the known galaxy was appealing. But from a practical point of view, Vader felt the construction of a massive battle station which would destroy a planet was more problematic than it needed to be.

Not only had the Death Star taken a long time to construct - the Emperor had already taken that into account when he had commissioned the weapon, but Palpatine's patients would only extend so far; he had been patient during his rise to power - manipulating the Naboo crisis and getting Valorum kicked out of his position, becoming the Supreme Chancellor and then spending the next decade creating the Separatist movement while arranging for the Clone army to become the weapon designed to wipe out the Jedi Order before he had pushed the Jedi into the right place for Order 66 to come about, while making sure Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader.

The Sith were not renowned for their patience, but like many other so-called _facts _Vader had heard during his formative years in the Jedi Temple about the Sith, it was possible for a Sith Master like Palpatine to be extremely patient, but there were limits. For twenty years now the Death Star had been under construction. The scientist brought in had run away after discovering what his work into kyber crystals was going into, slowing down the work to a crawl and setting the schedule for the Death Star back considerably, which had resulted in Palpatine going berserk with rage before that fool Krennic managed to find and retrieve Galen Erso, and force him back into work although now Vader couldn't help but wonder while he was meditating in the Force whether it was a bit too convenient.

And now this.

There had been a breach of security with the Death Star and a cargo pilot had gone missing, and he was presumed to have gone rogue before he had fled to Jedha where it was rumoured Saw Gerrera was the recipient to some dangerous information, information that had been given to him by Erso himself. As if that was not bad enough, the Death Star had destroyed Jedha city and reduced it to rubble. While the test showed conclusively the superweapon not only worked but it was capable, which had reassured Palpatine no end, it had still caused problems in the Senate.

Vader released a mental sigh in the Force as he considered the Jedha situation. It had long since been the plan of the Empire to destroy the Sacred City, the spiritual home of the Jedi Order itself, but its destruction and the rumours of a superweapon had spread beyond their ability to control, and while he controlled a virtually toothless Senate, the numerous delegations who made up the membership of the organisation Vader had always known was useless, had given the Emperor a headache. It had taken all of his Force control over the minds of the weaklings in the Senate to reassure them the disaster was nothing more mundane than a careless example of over-mining, the fact that some believed the Death Star existed before the galaxy was ready for it had given Vader headaches as much as Palpatine.

His Master was most displeased, and whenever Palpatine was displeased, life was really unpleasant for Vader.

The Sith Lord was brought out of his musings when his assistant, Vanee entered the room. He could feel the old man through the Force, just like he could feel the presence of the two guards assigned to protect him from harm while he was vulnerable.

"My Lord, Director Krennic has arrived," Vanee said, his voice quivering with fear although the man had been told to immediately inform him whether he was in the bacta or not when the director arrived.

Vader came out of his meditation, and his breathing returned to its customary rhythm while he sent a Force command to the controls of the bacta tank, and the liquid started to drain out of the tank while Vanee bowed his cowled head while the liquid drained away, revealing what was left of Vader's body, though thankfully the heat created a lot of thick steam which stopped his assistant and his guards from seeing the cybernetic limbs he had been left with.

Vader's only thought as he was placed back into his armour, already using the dark side to block off the feeling of isolation and claustrophobia caused by the confines of the suit with practiced ease, was _Krennnic has been causing problems for far too long, but now I am going to ensure the record is set straight._

* * *

Fully armoured once more, Darth Vader strode towards the blast door to the room where Vanee had left Krennic and the Sith Lord could feel the very real fear and dread for the meeting he was about to have, and the very real concern and worry he might never live beyond today. Vader pressed the control, to raise the door, and as he did he could feel the fear from the Director instantly rise up a notch before Vader saw him in his entirety.

The Sith Lord had met Krennic many times over the years, and each time he had, the other man had been left terrified. But now it was even worse.

_Good, _the Sith Lord thought disdainfully, _you have so much to answer for, so many things to explain to me before you can assure the Emperor the Death Star is functional and has not been compromised. _

Vader walked towards Krennic, and with each step the Dark Lord took towards the Imperial Director, a white cape billowing hanging from his shoulders, and some of his customary arrogance seemed to have left him, and his expression became more and more visibly disturbed, though that was nothing compared to what Vader could feel through the Force. Coming to a halt in front of the Director, Vader took a moment to study him.

_He's terrified, _Vader thought with delight, knowing this was going to be easy as long as the Director's arrogance didn't make him say something extremely unwise.

"Director Krennic," Vader greeted.

Krennic nodded respectfully, trying visibly to close down the fear he was obviously feeling. "Lord Vader," he said in return.

"You seem unsettled," Vader commented as he walked around the man, but he knew why the Director was frightened and he relished it.

"No," Krennic said quickly, and he tried to rein in his fear while Vader stepped away from the Imperial office, "Just pressed for time. There's a great many things to attend to."

"My apologies," Vader replied sarcastically as he turned to look Krennic straight in the face, "you do indeed have a great many things to explain."

Vader hoped that Krennic explained not only his actions although he had already decided this was not going to be a very long interview, but also in why he hadn't taken the security precautions Tarkin himself had come up with to shield the construction of the Death Star from the rest of the galaxy. Krennic's idea of security was to simply lock it up in a place where it was easy to find, and Vader was worried about the security breach that had already appeared. He was determined to prevent it from getting worse, but he needed to learn more from Krennic in person about what had happened and find ways of ensuring it didn't get out of hand.

Part of Vader hoped that Palpatine made this fool understand the depths of his mistakes, but he knew it was not going to happen. The time needed to dissolve the last bastion, the last relic, of the Old Republic was taking a lot of the Emperor's time. He didn't have the time to speak to Krennic, though Vader could take an educated guess that if the situation warranted it, then the Emperor would meet with Krennic. And more than likely kill him.

"I delivered the weapon the Emperor requested," Krennic said and broke into his thoughts, and Vader caught a spike of anger from the man, and an image of Tarkin's face and the memory of how furious and how embarrassed Krennic had felt when Tarkin not only took the Death Star from him, but had revealed the cargo pilot had come from Eadu, right under Krennic's own nose.

But like many other Imperial officers, Krennic underestimated Vader's ability to sift through the mind. One of Krennic's biggest problems, that Vader had found, was that he rarely if ever learnt not to make such poor excuses, and he made poor excuses all the time. He also pointed the blame at others and didn't recognise his own limitations. What made this whole situation even more annoying was Krennic had gone in with no clear plan and he had not even tried to properly interrogate Galen Erso, and because of that, the Emperor had no way of knowing if his precious weapon of terror was compromised or not.

"I deserve an audience," Krennic went on speaking while Vader silently walked towards him, and each step he took only made Krennic more frightened about what might happen but still the Director went on, "to make certain he understands its remarkable….p-potential," Krennic stumbled over the last word because Vader had moved so silently and gracefully and was now standing so close to him, that now he was intimidated.

Vader was not sure whether or not to laugh at Krennic's belief he deserved an audience with the Emperor.

"It's power to create problems has certainly been confirmed," Vader nodded almost amicably at Krennic while he spoke mildly despite being uncertain of how he should react to Krennic's arrogant belief that he could make the Emperor see something that he knew only too well. There was nothing truly special about Orson Callan Krennic; he was another Imperial officer who just wanted favour with the Emperor, little realising or understanding that Palpatine didn't care for that unless someone had the means to garner more power for the ageing Sith Lord, "A city destroyed. An Imperial facility openly attacked," he said pointedly before he walked some distance away to give Krennic some room to explain how he had allowed such a catastrophic security breach, and what his plans were to stop it from getting worse.

"It was Governor Tarkin who suggested the test," Krennic said instead, instantly pointing the blame at someone else now he knew the finger was pointing straight at him.

Annoyed Vader turned around. "You were not summoned here to grow, Director Krennic," Vader retorted, letting a lot of his inner anger bleed into the conversation they were having. He was getting very frustrated and very angry with Krennic's ambition and his major failing in knowing how to accept the blame for himself on top of failing to recognise the Emperor was already most displeased with him.

Krennic back-peddled as he seemed to have regained some of his cautious attitude. "No, I-," he tried to stammer, but Vader decided to come straight to the point.

"There is no Death Star," Vader went on, enjoying the look of defeat and the feelings of anger from Krennic his pet project had no turned out the way he had hoped. He was frustrated as well, frustrated that not only had he failed to realise Galen Erso had in fact been a traitor the whole time. "The Senate has been informed that Jedha was destroyed in a mining disaster."

"Yes, My Lord," Krennic replied, looking defeated by the news; Vader felt little sympathy for him, however, if he felt the Emperor was going to be more merciful, then he was going to be in for a painful surprise.

Palpatine was beyond furious with everything that had happened so far. He hadn't wanted even a _whisper _about the weapon to be revealed to the galaxy at large before he was ready, but thanks to the cargo pilot's conspiracy with Galen Erso, the destruction of the Sacred City of Jedha, and the Imperial facility on Eadu being attacked by the Rebel Alliance, the rumour had started to spread, and Palpatine had needed a long time just to ensure the Senate was reassured.

The Senate may have been rendered powerless over the years as Palpatine had slowly but easily eroded more and more of the body's powers ever since the day when he had declared the Jedi as traitors to the safety of the galaxy when they had tried to stop him from going too far, and began the process to reorganise the Old Republic as the Galactic Empire, but despite having power over them through the Force, they were still capable of causing noise in the exact places Palpatine truly did not want.

To a Sith, democracy was a sin. It was a myth because people should not have the right to choose their leaders. They needed to be controlled by the strong, and that was what Sidious and Vader offered the galaxy. The Senate had been the last bastion of the Old Republic for years, even if Palpatine had issued one law after another which just sliced the Senates' powers even more.

Vader truly didn't care about the Senate. Even as Anakin Skywalker, he had viewed the organisation with the same contempt as the rest of the Jedi, but his contempt ran even more. When he had first taken her into his mother's home, Padme had yakked on about slavery laws, but truth be told just because a law existed didn't mean there weren't private individuals who practiced slavery acts even in the _glorious _Republic, and that was nothing compared to the years of slavery his mother and himself had endured on Tatooine, though his mother had suffered from it longer than Anakin himself had.

Vader knew that his mother and family had been captured by pirates but even with the knowledge of these attacks and these events, neither the Senate nor the so-called guardians of peace and justice had done nothing to stop it.

Palpatine had planned to unveil the Death Star as soon as he finalised the last stages of dissolving the Senate. He was nearly finished. He only needed a few more days before the last remnant of the Old Republic would be swept away, and control of key sectors and regions of the galaxy would be handed over to the regional governors who'd have the responsibility of controlling their areas while the Death Star allowed Palpatine to rule by fear. It was so terrible easy; if a system or a planet refused to do something the Emperor wanted then he would order the Death Star to travel there, destroy the planet, send it out to a few more worlds who had done nothing to make an example of what the price would be if they failed to obey his rule, and he would simply have the planet-killer destroy one of them.

It was a simple solution, really.

Brutal, but effective in a crude way.

Fear of the Death Star would spread throughout the galaxy, though Vader had his doubts from a practical perspective about the Rebellion. While he could understand what they wanted, Vader honestly thought they were dreaming. They wanted to restore democracy and freedom to the galaxy, but realistically Vader doubted it would be so straightforward.

The Old Republic was not the utopia like they preached about. The system was old, it was corrupt, and it had broken down badly long before Palpatine had come to power on the eve of the Clone Wars. Didn't they understand that although he himself had other ideas for the Empire, at least dozens of worlds were better off with the Sith in charge? The Republic's law-enforcement agencies had been undermanned and outgunned as they had struggled to deal with crime. Not anymore. With the stormtroopers available, criminals had learnt the hard way the Empire was not the pushover the Old Republic had been. Employment was high thanks to the projects the Sith-ruled government had put into place.

And people actually wanted to return to those days?

It made no sense to the Sith Lord. It was a common misconception among the galaxy who were aware of the Sith that Sith Lords did not understand democracy without putting it down, but Vader was not among them. He understood democracy, but he had never truly liked it. Democracy welcomed debates, and debates wasted time when it was extremely short and people suffered as a result.

The Jedi had not helped either. They had followed the mandate of the Republic, the Senate in other words. The senators didn't understand or even care about what was going on in the galaxy beyond their precious self-importance.

With the Empire, it was a simple matter to order the right people in and the problem would be solved, but the Rebellion refused to see or accept that truth.

"I expect you not to rest until you can assure the Emperor," Vader went on, deciding that the interview was now long since over, "that Galen Erso has not compromised this weapon, _in any way," _the Sith Lord said, emphasising his orders with jabs of his cybernetic index finger while he walked really close to the man.

Vader truly had no idea what Erso had done. The fact he had been on the project responsible for the construction of the Death Star, him having the scientific and engineering comprehension and familiarity with the station was bad enough, but the fact remained there would be no logic in getting a cargo pilot to create a breach in security if he hadn't done anything.

With Erso dead (something else that annoyed Vader because if Krennic had bothered to use the muscle in his head which seemed atrophied due to his ambitions) there was no way of finding out if the scientist had done something to the station.

Palpatine was leaning on Vader and on Tarkin to discover just how extensive this whole mess was, but they had no way of knowing where to start.

Krennic flinched slightly but noticeably due to the proximity but also because of the sound of Vader's life-support suit. Confident at that last the idiot understood the gravity of the situation, Vader walked around Krennic to head back into his fortress, but unfortunately, the Director's next question stopped him and only served to aggravate him more.

"So I'm still in command?"

The question brought Vader to a halt. The Sith Lord couldn't believe the stupidity in some people sometimes. He just couldn't believe or understand Krennic. The idiot was responsible for the security breaches because he had not anticipated them. Galen Erso was dead, rumours of the Death Star's existence were rising all the time, and all this fool cared for was who was in charge.

Vader closed his eyes and reached deeply into the Force. He could sense the arrogance and the ambition of the man, but Vader was annoyed by how he had the gall to ask for an audience with Palpatine after being responsible for so much trouble. He concentrated on the Force….The results were immediate and dramatic.

"You'll speak to the Emperor about….," Krennic began to say before he felt a pressure on his larynx which cut him off that made it hard for him to breathe that he collapsed to the ground.

"Be careful not to choke on your aspirations, Director," Vader said as he turned around holding up his fingers in a clutching motion. Krennic saw the movement out of the corner of his eye from where he was kneeling on the ground, and his face went slack with fear. Krennic like everyone else knew that Darth Vader had some mystical power, but experiencing it and living was rare. Vader released his hold. It would be easy and quick to just kill the man, but he was still needed to clear up the mess he had made the mistake of making. He turned and walked off, leaving Krennic behind.

* * *

Author's Note - And so it begins! I had fun writing the part about Vader's views about the Rebel Alliance; while he understands what they want, which isn't difficult, he believes that restoring the Republic is.

Anyway, how do you think I did?


	3. Chapter 3 Orders from Palpatine

Rogue One: Vader.

_Fool, _Vader thought irritably as he marched through the corridors of the castle after dealing with Krennic, his mind still focused on what the Director had said during the last few moments of the interview, _it's little wonder you can't get things done within the Empire if imbeciles like him are everywhere to make everything turn into an unholy mess. _

His reflections on the interview did not paint a nice picture of the chaos surrounding the Death Star project. While the weapon was virtually finished and it was almost ready to begin operations, Palpatine's desire to keep the weapon as secret as possible before he was ready to unleash it on worlds that had ties to the Rebel Alliance, or had otherwise caused problems for the Emperor over the years had been jeopardised by the security breaches.

And Krennic's only defence was that Tarkin had been the one to destroy the sacred city on Jedha. Not only that, but he had not offered assurances or any explanation about Galen Erso's treachery. Vader knew he should have pressed the matter further, but he had only needed a quick glance into Krennic's mind to know the man had been completely ignorant about the treachery, so there hadn't been any point.

Vanee met him in the corridor, and as he regarded his aide, Vader knew something was up. Vanee was a nervous, fidgety man at the best of times, but he got his jobs done, and that was all that mattered.

"Lord Vader!" Vanee said as soon as he realised his master was nearby.

Vader came to a stop. "Yes, Vanee, what is it?" he demanded.

Vanee was panting with fear, and Vader was surprised by the level of it and he knew it had nothing to do with him because his assistant was a lot more confident than that, but he deduced very quickly why that was before Vanee even opened his mouth.

"The Emperor demands you make contact with him," Vanee said.

"I shall take it in the Audience chamber," Vader announced as he walked off without another word, but Vanee, who was used to the dismissals, walked off to attend to his other duties.

Making his way into the Audience chamber, which was similar to the section of the chambers he had on board his Star Destroyer, Vader steeled himself within the dark side as he prepared to make contact with his master. Vader had known Palpatine for a long time, a very long time before he had become Darth Vader and carved and forged an Empire out of the blood of the Jedi and the decadence of the Old Republic. But the Palpatine whom he had known when he'd been younger was entirely different. Now he was no longer having to present a facade, Palpatine had dropped more and more of his persona as a kindly politician, and became more and more of a harsh, domineering, and tyrannical dictator.

When he had become a Sith himself, Vader had quickly learnt Palpatine, the true Palpatine, was not a forgiving man. More than once Vader had been struck with deadly Force Lightning where the electricity would damage the delicate circuitry of his life-support systems, but Vader knew the Emperor would never go too far.

Palpatine needed him to keep the galaxy in line until the Death Star was operational, but Vader had needed to learn the hard way to be careful otherwise he would be struck by the Lightening. While he had learnt to use the pain to fuel his rage, Vader knew that no amount of anger would repair the circuits of the life support systems of his suit.

Vader kneeled down on the holoprojector which activated the moment he stepped on it and he hoped the Emperor was in a good mood where he was concerned, though he knew better than to get his hopes up too high; Palpatine had on more than one occasion inflicted Force Lightning on him when he was calmer. He lifted his head, knowing that Palpatine would be waiting to receive the call.

Palpatine's image towered over him, another sign of the Sith Master's need to remind his apprentice of who was in command. From underneath the Sith Master's hood, the wrinkled and scarred appearance of Palpatine was highlighted in the glowing image of the hologram.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" Vader said, using the ritualistic Sith greeting while ignoring Palpatine's need to show off while he regarded the hologram in an exact manner Sidious demanded - with respect, awe, and fear.

"What happened with Krennic, Vader?" the Sith Lord began without preamble.

"Krennic did not know anything about the security breach coming from Eadu," Vader answered the question, "he only found out because Tarkin informed him."

The holographic image of Palpatine's face became even more ghoulish as the Sith Lord's face put on a thoughtful expression. "Yes, Tarkin informed me of Krennic's surprise, however, I was not sure if it was just willful ignorance or just a pretence. What else did you learn from sifting through Krennic's mind, Lord Vader?"

Vader was not surprised his master's knowledge of how he'd gotten the information - Krennic was well known for not providing straight answers to extremely simple questions, and Palpatine knew it. The only logical way to get the knowledge was to probe into Krennic's mind, and since the fool was ignorant of the Force to the point where he didn't really believe it to be real despite all the evidence he had experienced, it was easy to sift through Krennic's brain to find the answers that you wanted.

"Krennic had plans to find out if anybody else was involved in the security breach by interrogating Erso, but the scientist was killed in the attack on Eadu and to discover whether or not the Death Star had been compromised by Galen Erso, but his shortsighted and far-reaching ambitions limited his plans," Vader replied.

Palpatine visibly shifted as he straightened up. "What do you mean, his ambitions limited his plans?" he asked, an edge entering his voice.

"Krennic wants to command the Death Star, but while Tarkin has ambitions of his own, he is able to look to the bigger picture of the Empire's stability. Krennic cannot. When he met Erso on Eadu, Krennic did ask the scientist if the Death Star was stable. Erso, understandably, did not reply to the question, but Krennic was more concerned that his dreams of gaining favour from you than looking into the Death Star itself to find if there were any flaws."

Palpatine sighed and closed his eyes. "It took years just to take the basics of Raith Sienar's Expeditionary Battle Planetoid concept, and develop it to the point where schematics could be drawn up while the basic technology was being experimented with, and then the groundwork for the construction of the Death Star prototype was conceived. There are so many ways Galen Erso could have sabotaged it, but do you believe that he did, Vader?" the Sith Master opened his eyes and studied his apprentice.

On the other end of the transgalactic link, on Coruscant, Palpatine spent the moment before Darth Vader replied to his question to remember the long years of work and time and money which had gone into finding the right minds capable of not only researching the Death Star.

Raith Sienar, one of the most ambitious scientists of the Old Republic, had already conceived much of the technology the Empire used, such as the TIE fighter, but his most incredible idea was the conception of the Death Star. Granted Sienar hadn't thought of it like that at the time. The Expeditionary Battle Planetoid was not originally conceived as being a planet killer, but much of the technology was considered to be impossible. Palpatine and Tarkin had manoeuvred several scientists and engineers to pioneering the different sciences which would one day form the weapon. Even the Separatists had been used to refine it to some degree before the construction had taken place during the Clone Wars itself. Finding a system where the fighting was non-existent was not difficult, although making sure nobody accidentally stumbled upon the construction was.

It had been nearly thirty years since the original concept had been proposed to Palpatine. In those days he himself had been the apprentice of Darth Plagueis, but even then Palpatine had known that even with the army and the forces of the Sith Empire at their disposal, they would need an additional edge to make sure there was no rebellion. The Death Star would serve the purpose nicely. Granted, at the time he had known it would take time and patience for the weapon to be made ready, and Palpatine was irked already. If Krennic had allowed that traitor Galen Erso to sabotage the station, then the Director had better forget his ambitions.

Thinking about Krennic made Palpatine inwardly sigh. The Sith Lord had been subtly manipulating the little feud between Tarkin and Krennic for a long time now as he had tried to make sure the weapon was ready for the day which was coming soon when he announced the Imperial Senate dissolved for good, the last remnant of the Old Republic swept away at last. It had always been long term ambition of the Sith's Grand Plan, really, to completely destroy the Republic.

In the first years of the Empire, Palpatine had needed the organisation to help him control and to maintain the peace in the galaxy, but thanks to his new and self anointed title of Emperor, Palpatine had been able to do things without being bogged down by the endless bureaucracy within the Senate which had always been frustrating. But over the years, as he had gained more and more power, Palpatine had been able to take power out of the Senate. It hadn't taken him long to do, either. While many in the general public were surprised, there was actually a lot of applause. So many remembered the trouble that the Republic had found itself in because of the Senate, so not many missed it, and yet those idiots who formed the Rebellion used it as another point to use against the Empire.

Palpatine wasn't bothered about that, looking towards the long-term plans he had in mind for the unleashing of the Death Star, which would ensure the galaxy cowered in fear and the Rebel Alliance faded from view.

But if the weapon was compromised….

Galen Erso had been one of the biggest headaches of the project. Not only had his escape slowed construction of the station down to a crawl, but it had taken Krennic a long time to find him, which had resulted in the death of Erso's wife and the disappearance of his daughter. Palpatine had read the reports. Looking at the whole mess now, Palpatine could see that Krennic had been too complacent, lost in a dream world where he would command the Death Star, claiming it to be "his achievement."

Krennic believed that if he had brought Galen Erso back into the construction of the Death Star, and that if the weapon was proven to be stable and that it worked properly, then he would find favour over Tarkin. However, what Krennic failed to realise was that Palpatine genuinely didn't care who was responsible for the construction of the Death Star. He didn't care who arranged for the tremendous scientific and engineering work to be undertaken to ensure the weapon was constructed and completed on schedule, all he did care about was three things. Firstly, that the weapon was completed and that it was proven, and the first tests had proven that it did work even if the destruction of the Holy City on Jedha, although it had destroyed all trace of the touch the Jedi Order had left there, had caused problems, which didn't even touch the security breach caused by Erso on Eadu. This was the type of problem that Palpatine really didn't want.

Secondly, the weapon had to completely flawless. So much time had been poured into the project which had constructed it, and at this point, with the dissolution so close, Palpatine needed all problems nipped in the bud quickly.

Lastly, he wanted the Death Star to last forever. That could not happen if the first two points were wrong.

"I believe it is possible, my master," Vader's reply broke through Palpatine's innermost thoughts and the elder Sith Lord had to regain concentration on the conversation to break himself out of his thoughts. "Galen Erso had nothing left to lose. His wife was killed when Krennic went to retrieve him from Lah'mu, and his daughter went missing. He also had tremendous knowledge of the Death Star construction. He understood the principles behind it. He knew how the weapon worked. He had the expertise to sabotage it without either Governor Tarkin or Director Krennic's knowledge. If he really wanted to sabotage the station, he had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to do so."

Pushing his suspicion Vader only added the titles of the two men to formally spite them to one side because he truly wasn't concerned about that, Palpatine had to admit his apprentice was correct. "Yes," he said slowly, admitting to himself that if he were in Galen Erso's position, which he wasn't, then he would have done the same thing.

"Vader," Palpatine began, making his apprentice look up at the difference in the tone, "if you were the one working on the Death Star, how would you sabotage the station?"

Vader went silent for a moment as he considered the Emperor's question. "If I were sabotaging the station," he began slowly as he let his mind go over what he himself knew of the plans, "I would target a small section of the systems. The most vulnerable components of the Death Star are the hyperdrives, the super laser, the system put into place to prevent the blasts from destroying the station, and the reactor core, so there would be a lot to choose from."

Palpatine's expression soured as he considered this. He remained silent so he could let his apprentice continue.

"Galen Erso had access to every vital system on the Death Star. He could have sabotaged any of them. But I do not think he sabotaged any system in the same manner as a conventional saboteur."

The visage of Palpatine towering over him suddenly frowned in confusion. "What do you mean, Lord Vader?" he asked.

"Galen Erso was a scientist, an engineer, my master," Vader replied, not having to really think through his answer. "The Death Star was able to move from its construction site all the way to Jedha through hyperspace. The super laser was able to level the Holy City in a single blast. So the propulsion systems should, theoretically, be still operational. However, what if Erso placed a computer program undetected by the security on the station that would destroy the station while it was travelling through hyperspace? What if the super laser was tampered with, that after a certain number of shots, the safety systems were switched off? Galen Erso could have tampered with any of them since he had the means, but the most vulnerable part of the battle-station was the hyper-matter reactor in the core."

There was no doubt in Vader's mind that, now he knew what Erso had done, the Death Star had been sabotaged. The only problem was he had no idea how he was going to start.

"I want that station checked over, Vader. Make sure you arrange it; while Tarkin has more initiative than Krennic, I don't want him to arrange for the search. With you at least I know the job will be carried through successfully," Palpatine ordered.

Vader said nothing. He had known the Emperor would demand he took personal command of the investigation. That wasn't unexpected in his mind, but he shielded his doubts from his master's mind. "I understand, my master," he said, "What is happening in the Senate concerning Jedha? I am aware you have reassured the senators' nothing untoward has occurred, but-."

Palpatine's expression visibly darkened, but fortunately, the older Sith Lord didn't punish his servant with Force Lightning. "Many of the senators are calling for an investigation into the destruction of the city," he informed Vader, "they wish to know more about the disaster, and why no more safety precautions were taken."

Vader was inwardly impressed with the Senate's logic.

"I am only stalling them so far," Palpatine went on, "but in the long run it won't go anywhere since I am close to dissolving the Senate completely."

"That will be a day which will be long remembered," Vader remarked, not feeling particularly sorry for the loss of the senate.

"Ah yes," Palpatine smiled, revealing his rotten teeth over the link. "You never trusted the Senate, did you, despite your wife's involvement, did you Lord Vader?"

Vader didn't comment about Padme, although his near atrophied stomach lurched at the reminder of her existence. "No, my master," he replied, "they were weak. They just wanted to talk and talk without doing anything. The Rebel Alliance wants the Republic back, but it will just be the same as it had been before the Clone Wars; ineffectual, weak, useless."

Palpatine cackled, wondering inwardly how Senator Amidala would feel about her husband's thoughts on the matter. Thankfully the aggravating bitch was dead, though it would be fun to see it… "True," he said with a grin, but his smile faded.

"I want you to investigate this breach of security, see to it personally, Lord Vader," Palpatine ordered.

The order was not an unexpected one. "I understand, my master," Vader replied, but he knew already about the basics; if Tarkin knew about them, then the Emperor probably did as well.

But Palpatine was not finished.

"Vader, Krennic is continuously demanding an audience, but I want you to give him things to do. But more importantly, I want you to monitor the security of the Death Star from this point onwards; the current crisis involving the station is unacceptable, and I want you to ensure the weapon if safe."

Vader knew his master well and knew that he wanted to test Krennic to see if the Director was capable of doing them. But the added order of monitoring the security of the Death Star wasn't unexpected. "Understood, master," he bowed, already making plans to ensure the battle-station was protected for as long as his master wished despite his own personal feelings towards the station.

At the same time, he wondered what ways he could keep Krennic occupied so then he would be more focused on the tasks the Emperor wished for the Director to be distracted on, but he decided to wait until he could truly think it through before he acted. His mind was not focused on a slimy, over-ambitious idiot, but on the investigation at hand. He already knew the basics, so he had somewhere to start, but hopefully, he would be able to find a link he could follow.

But when Palpatine's hologram faded away, Vader couldn't help but feel the conflict within him, the conflict which said what was happening was evil and cruel. The Sith Lord pushed it aside, but it would not go away.

* * *

Author's Note - The conflict is growing inside Darth Vader, although it will be a long time before it comes out. I couldn't resist writing it into the chapter.


	4. Chapter 4 Failure

Rogue One: Vader.

As his Star Destroyer the Devastator headed quickly for Scarif, Darth Vader was in a semi-meditative state as he let himself be opened up to the dark side of the Force to prepare himself for the inevitable confrontation with the Rebel Alliance. Thinking of the alliance and the prospect of going into battle with them sent a thrill of anger through him at what the Alliance, or rather the _so-called _Alliance had done to the peace and order of the galaxy. Vader knew that although the Rebellion was organised and wanted to restore the Republic, they weren't truly united; many of their group continually acted as though the Rebellion was just a miniature version of their old senate, where they argued and debated constantly without really getting anything done.

Didn't they realise that to gain power they had to seize it?

It was a lesson Vader had learnt a long time ago, one he believed in. As he stood looking out of the viewing ports at the hyperspace vortex, Vader was having difficulty believing things had gone as far as they had. Krennic had been told the Death Star's problems had definitely been confirmed long before it had even been activated, and he was right.

And now they had definitely spiralled out of control beyond the Sith's powers of foresight.

Scarif. The world where the Empire stored every single piece of top security information, every scientific and engineering project, every piece of logistic intelligence that was contained in the data-vaults on that plane, was under attack by the Rebel Alliance. The Death Star had contacted him with the news and now he was on his way to prevent the Alliance from getting hold of the Death Star plans that were being held in the data-vault on Scarif along with so many other projects presently undertaken by the Empire.

Somehow a group of Rebel spies had landed on the planet, and they had kept the garrison there occupied while another group went to collect the Death Star plans stored there.

Vader had always considered it was a mistake of the Empire to store the plans there and not keep them somewhere infinitely more secure, and now he had proof of it. From what Vader had heard of the battle, the Imperial warships held there to permanently protect the planet and the facility on Scarif had been attacked by a force of Rebel ships, and they had sustained heavy casualties.

After everything that had happened recently, Vader had no desire for the Alliance to get hold of those plans. The Death Star had already arrived at the planet and it had sent Vader a signal letting him know what Tarkin was about to do. Tarkin would destroy the Imperial base on the planet

Vader wasn't concerned about the base. It had already fallen, and although it was regrettable for the destruction of the base, it was the only way to properly safeguard their security projects.

"We are approaching Scarif, My Lord," the navigator said, glancing up from his work but quickly resuming his vigil over his station. "I'm picking up the Rebel Alliance ships entering hyperspace. They're right in front of us."

Vader approved of the crew members' attention to his work. Hyperspace travel came with so many hazards you needed to keep watch, and this particular navigator took his work very seriously whereas others just relied on computers. As a result, Vader had come to view the man as one of his favourites because he was not afraid to make it known if something was out of place.

"Very good," Shaef Corssin, the Captain of the ship glanced at Vader for permission. The Sith Lord just nodded at him. The captain and the officers had been told by Vader to aim the ship at a specific point near the Death Star just before the Rebels escaped. Vader didn't care if some of the Rebels escaped since their hyperspace vortex would intercept theirs.

"Standby weapons."

Vader silently stood on the bridge as the gun crews got ready and powered up their batteries. He had already told them he wanted the ship to arrive in orbit above Scarif with their weapons already primed. He didn't bother to hand out any more orders, but he couldn't help but feel the sense of thrill and anticipation for battle surge through him, which was a result of the pod races he had been involved in during his childhood on Tatooine (he would _not think _of her, his mother - Force only knew how the woman who had carried him and given birth to him viewed him now and what he had done for the past two decades as a Sith Lord) and the first battles he had been involved in, all the way through the Clone Wars.

Vader pushed those thoughts aside and he started to let the hate flow through him as he had learnt during his long years as Palpatine's third Sith apprentice. He let his anger towards Krennic trickle through him at first while he used the dark side to focus on the mission at hand, and when the Star Destroyer finally blasted out of hyperspace close to the massive spherical form of the Death Star.

While the Devastator repetitively pummelled the Rebel ships without any of them being able to fight back which wasn't surprising since the Rebels had taken on a fleet of ships where the commanders didn't have anything exciting to do besides run battle drills, Vader took stock of the mess made by the Death Star project on the whole while he watched the laser cannons batter down a ship and break it in half while at the same time the laser cannons struck the Rebel flagship head-on. Its defence shields had been brought down when they had been preparing to enter hyperspace, and now whole sections were leaking atmosphere. Vader could see the little steams of air like smoke from a steam locomotive seep out into space before dissipating for good. He also saw bodies be spaced, but he didn't pay any attention to them.

The shield gate had been destroyed, the Star Destroyers formerly in this system were destroyed or so heavily damaged they were now no good for anything except like on the scrapheap. Debris from destroyed ships and shattered fighters, some pieces larger than a man exposing pieces of pipe, conduit, and electrical circuit to little particles of debris no smaller than grains of sand floated through space, and more than once Vader caught sight of tiny bodies drifting harmlessly through space, exposed to the vacuum where they had died instantly.

On the planet, Vader could see the glowing, almost spherical mushroom of superheated fire created by the Death Star's blast. It was expanding in every direction it could, burning everything it could. The blast would not lose momentum for some time, and Vader knew that when it did the entire Scarif base would be destroyed though the Sith Lord didn't know for sure if the data-tapes would survive.

That was the responsibility of a team that would be sent in to check on the vaults to see if they had survived. There was no reason why they should since the Empire had known what they were doing when they had designed the vault and the layers of duraconcrete and durasteel girders that were sandwiched in to create a strong and durable shell. It was designed to resist attack, so it should remain intact, but that was only for conventional weapons, and there was nothing conventional about the Death Star.

Vader decided to ignore the matter for now, and just focus on the mission at hand. It wasn't his problem for now and even if those data-tapes were lost the research facilities would have backups.

He sensed Corssin approach from behind before the captain spoke. "The Rebel flagship has been disabled, My Lord. But it has received transmissions from the surface."

Vader nodded his helmet. He could see for himself the oxygen-fed fires on key areas of the flagship as it now drifted in space. The news that transmissions had been definitely made concerned Vader because it showed conclusively that Tarkin's destruction of the base below had been a waste of time. Yes, it might have destroyed the Rebel infestation on the planet, but it hadn't stopped the transmission being made.

_Somewhere on that ship are the Death Star plans, _Vader thought to himself, cursing the idiots responsible for this whole situation and cursing the decision to make it so easy to transmit information from Scarif, but most of all he cursed the decision to store the Death Star tape on Scarif. _They must be brought back. They cannot be allowed to leave this system. _

With that thought in mind, Vader gave his order, "Prepare a boarding party."

He turned away from the viewport and walked away to head to the landing bay to catch a shuttle, catching sight of Corssin's face as he walked past.

"Yes, My Lord," Corssin said although Vader did not acknowledge him, still Vader knew the captain, who was more competent than most, would get the job done.

Vader met the detachment of stormtroopers in the landing bay. They immediately crashed to attention as he approached, as did the technical crew with them. Vader paused before one of the senior technicians. "Why are you here?" he asked.

The technician swallowed out of fear and Vader could feel the terror wafting from all of them. "The captain sent us here, sir," he said, trembling with fright, "he said the Rebels received a transmission from the surface, but we should also take the opportunity to tear out any piece of intelligence we can."

"Very good," Vader said mildly, mentally praising Corssin for the common sense he had just shown although he doubted the Rebels would just leave such information lying around. "Come."

Vader led the way on board the shuttle before it blasted out of the shuttle bay and into space where it headed towards the Rebel flagship which was now drifting in orbit above Scarif while the shuttle was escorted by a small group of TIE fighters. Vader watched as the shuttle drew closer to the bulk of the flagship for a moment. He reached out through the Force and he felt that there were Rebels still onboard. He could also feel their panic and fear. They knew that with their ship disabled they were vulnerable to being boarded.

_How right you are, Rebels, _Darth Vader thought to himself as he continued to probe the Force, feeling the urgency of the Rebel soldiers as the shuttle neared the docking port. But then he felt something else.

_What is that? _Vader thought to himself curiously as he suddenly sensed something on the flagship, of a presence in the Force. A powerful presence. It was raw, untrained, but it was there. He could also feel this presences' fear and anticipation about what was going on, as well as a host of other emotions.

It made the individual strong in the Force.

Vader sensed the possibilities instantly; if he could find the source of this presence, then perhaps he could find a way of luring this individual to the dark side since it was really easy to push someone untrained in the Force's ways onto the path of the dark side, where he would, at last, be able to defeat the Emperor.

Vader knew in his current state with his prosthetic limbs he could not hope to defeat Palpatine in a fight. While he was strong in the dark side and had been forced to cope with his prosthetics, there was no chance he could win in a fight against Palpatine; if he was trying to defeat a Jedi Master then Vader would be able to handle it, as he had proven in the past, but although he was physically old and weak, Palpatine was anything but.

With his endless sea of volcanic hatred, Palpatine was a formidable opponent, and with his Force Lightning to aid him which gave him a powerful weapon, Vader knew he couldn't defeat Palpatine since one blast of lightning to his life-support systems would definitely kill him.

But with the right apprentice…

"We are nearing the Rebel flagship, My Lord," the shuttle pilot announced, forcing Vader to return to reality.

"Good," he nodded simply before he headed for the back where the detachment was waiting for him. The stiffened to attention when he approached.

"We are drawing closer to the Rebel ship," he said simply, "when we board you are to kill any Rebel soldiers, but if you find any surviving Alliance officers, you are to capture them. They must be interrogated as to the location of the Rebel base."

"Yes, sir," the leader of the stormtroopers said simply.

Vader turned to the technical crew. "I want you to examine the database of the flagship for any piece of intelligence you can find. I don't expect the transmission to be in their database, but find anything that can be of value to the Empire."

"Yes, My Lord," the senior technician said.

The interior of the Rebel flagship was dark thanks to the damage to the power conduits which shorted out the lights, but they were no problem for Darth Vader's optical lenses which saw everything in infra-red though once or twice there were still some brightly lit areas. Vader could hear the sound of Rebels speaking up ahead, and he clenched his hand around his lightsaber.

As he approached them Vader opened himself to the dark side. For a long time since he had become a Sith Lord and stopped becoming a Jedi on the night of the Jedi Purges, Darth Vader had learnt how to harness his rage even with the limitations of his artificial respirator suit and how to channel it, and he only released it against enemies when he really needed to. The Rebels were hardly prize opponents, but Vader had been bereft of true opponents for some time now, and besides that, he needed to unleash the anger and frustration he had been feeling over the last several months.

The Rebels stopped talking when they heard the sound of his respirator before he ignited his lightsaber and stood there for a moment, feeling the fear of his appearance. He then thought about all the things that had frustrated and annoyed him.

As the Rebels got over their surprise and horror at seeing him, all of them remembering stories they had heard over the years of his deeds, the worlds he had ravaged, and the people whom he had killed, all of them releasing so much fear into the Force Vader almost regretted the need to wipe them out. In the end, one of them called, "Open Fire!"

Vader used his lightsaber to block and ricochet back some of the blasts as he approached, and he used the attack to further fuel his rage. He let the frustrations he had with Krennic flow into his mind, the escape of Ahsoka Tano and the other Rebels, the conflicts with the Rebel Alliance over the last few months, the rage and the hatred he felt towards Palpatine who punished him whenever something went wrong, and he used the pain he had suffered and endured at the hands of Palpatine's Force Lightning sessions whenever the Emperor wanted to vent his own spleen.

The cauldron of rage he had lit earlier was starting to bubble, but he had more anger to pour into it. He used the hatred and anger he had garnered of the Jedi who had escaped Order 66, his anger for Yoda for inadvertently making him into Darth Vader without bothering to truly help him save Padme, his rage towards the Dark Woman who had told him it wasn't too late to stop being Darth Vader, but the thought of Obi-Wan Kenobi somewhere out there ignited his rage. His rage at Kenobi for mutilating him, leaving him burning on the shore of that river of lava while the fumes burnt his lungs without giving him the mercy of killing him boiled his rage until it spilled everywhere while he advanced on the Rebel soldiers in the corridor, masterfully parrying their shots and even sending a few back at the Rebels.

_This _was one of the reasons why Darth Vader was so feared, and as he approached he fed on the fear of the soldiers, and mixed it with the rage he was feeling. When in battle, nobody lived. It didn't matter if he was crippled and he was more machine than man, and as he approached he pushed the rage he felt for his physical handicaps to give him an advantage over these Force-Blind fools.

Vader was distantly aware of one of the Rebels banging on a window set in the bulkhead at the far end, but he paid the Rebel no heed; the door was probably damaged, but he would kill these Rebels long before anyone realised what had happened.

Once his anger had reached a certain zenith he lifted a gauntleted fist and sent one of the Rebels rocketing up to the ceiling where he remained stuck while Vader walked underneath, blocking the blaster fire as he did. The man cried out when Vader swung the blood-red blade of his lightsaber backwards and Vader released the hold, sending the corpse to the ground, but the Dark Lord didn't care about that. He sent a blaster bolt back at one of the Rebels, striking the man straight in the chest.

Vader grinned underneath his mask with sadistic glee and he reached out a hand, and the blasters the other Rebels were holding in their hands were sent flying backwards right behind the approaching Sith Lord. Vader took a few seconds to relish their terror as they realised their situation. They knew they were going to die, and with their only weapons gone and back down the corridor out of reach, with a Sith Lord in front of them, blocking their way so they couldn't get past him, they knew they were finished.

Vader swung his lightsaber around even as one of the Rebels was still trying to attract someone else's attention or get the door open, cutting down his colleagues as he went.

While Darth Vader hated aspects of what he had become - he would never truly stop himself from wishing he had died rather than attack Padme like he had, among other things like the suit, and the need for him to rely on technology and hardware to take care of the mundane things so many people took for granted, a hatred that he used to use to his advantage, he loved the fact that unlike the Jedi, the Sith did not hold back when it came to using the Force; yes, as a Jedi Knight when he had been _someone else, _Vader had used the Force to send battle-droids back through a sheer push. He had never been allowed to snatch their weapons from them and take advantage in their helplessness as he was now. And the sadistic glee he felt each time was, even more, sweeter to him than the sweetest fruit.

Two more rebels to go.

As Vader turned to one of them, he suddenly held out a blaster at the advancing Sith, but Vader held up his hand and he gurgled in horror as he began to choke as he was lifted off of his feet. Vader held him there while he choked for a moment before sending him into the wall of the corridor while crushing the man's neck bone.

When Vader turned his attention to the last rebel, he realised another was on the other side of the door.

"Here, here! Take it! Take it!" he cried, looking in terror at the advancing Sith Lord, accepting the inevitable, but Vader was only paying a small amount of his attention on the man. He was looking at what the rebel had just passed through the door. He had been holding a data-card, and light had reflected off it.

_The __**Death Star **__plans! _Vader realised when he worked out why the rebels were so determined to get it out of here even with him slaughtering every rebel he came across. In another time, Vader might have been impressed with the dedication, but there was no time. He had to get those plans back, but he saw with his lenses the data-card being handed to the other rebel.

Vader shoved his lightsaber through the rebels' torso, opening the door and leaving a line of molten metal left behind by the lightsaber blade. But Vader kept his eyes focused on the man who had the card and he was about to summon it to his hand, but the presence of the three rebels in the corridor, blocking his path and firing their blasters took all of his concentration.

Vader cursed at the necessity as he swung his lightsaber around to block the blasts while he thought angrily to himself, _I don't have time for this!_

Vader would never be sure of what had happened, but he was positive that the rebel he was chasing had tripped, only to throw the data-card at another Rebel.

Vader was swinging his lightsaber around desperately, killing the rebels as he went, marching on to retrieve the schematics, but it was no use. Doors closed, and there was the familiar sound of docking clamps releasing. By the time he got through, Vader watched as a small starship - a CR90 corvette by the look of it - was released and its sub-light engines ignited and it sped away out of reach.

Vader shut off his lightsaber and he let his eyes follow the ship, and he felt his anger burn inside of him. He had failed.

* * *

On the cockpit of the Tantive IV, the pilot and the co-pilot were plotting the course through hyperspace to get them away, though they had orders to travel at a random part of the galaxy to shake the Empire off, Princess Leia Organa was just relieved the battle was over; she had felt cold all of a sudden when the Imperial Star Destroyer suddenly appeared right in front of the escaping fleet, and then later when the Imperial shuttle and those TIE fighters had arrived, and she had felt uneasy.

Still, Leia was thankful they had managed to survive while so many of the Alliance were dead, although the battle at Scarif was bound to be a blow that would reverberate for a long time to come with the loss of the Empire's data-vaults. hen her father had contacted her to have her rendezvous with Admiral Raddus's fleet, she had been excited at the prospect of acquiring the plans to the Empires' newest weapon while she remained in her ship so then the Empire did not capture her.

Her father was confident that Jyn Erso could retrieve the plans, and while she had needed to swallow her own views of the woman, Leia had to admit that her father had been right. Jyn Erso had succeeded but at great cost.

So many were now dead, but she had witnessed thanks to the flagship's computer connection with her ship the Death Star's attack. When she had seen the monstrous moon-sized space station, Leia had wondered just what had possessed a mind to _build _such a thing.

Palpatine she could understand, he was a crazy monster who had transformed the galaxy into a hellhole, and the Senate into a powerless body whose only purpose was to fawn over him.

There was no doubt in Leia, or indeed her father or Mon Mothma's minds the Emperor planned to dissolve the Senate. Palpatine had never hidden his disgust for the body since the inception on the day of the Jedi Purges.

She could hear the sound of running footsteps behind the door to the cockpit. Leia knew it wasn't over yet; the Empire would not stop chasing them, not as long as they felt they had the Death Star plans.

Even worse, she knew they would be sending Darth Vader.

Leia was thankful when the door opened and she heard the sound of Captain Antille's voice. "Your Highness," he said.

Leia turned around and saw that he was holding out a data-card. "The transmission we received.

Leia walked over to him and gently took it from him. _All of that pain, all of that death…for this? _She knew that in war it was necessary for people to die, but that didn't mean she had to like it, and after what she had seen and heard about the Death Star, millions more could die if she didn't get these plans back to Yavin 4.

With these plans, they could start to bring down the Empire, and restore freedom to the galaxy….

Leia turned around to face the controls, but she was still focused on the card, lost in her thoughts.

"What is it they've sent us?" Antilles asked.

Leia looked up. "Hope," she replied as the pilot and co-pilot sent the ship into hyperspace.

_It's not over yet, _she thought to herself, _first we have to get rid of the Empire, and then we can begin…._

* * *

**Author's Note - And that's it. The end of this little story. I couldn't resist dropping in Vader sensing a Force presence on the ship. Its always been a mystery why Vader never felt the Force around her, but what if he sensed something off without joining the dots?**


End file.
